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Landis rides into legend
21/07/2006 12:26 - (SA)
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| Five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault of France, left, escorts Floyd Landis of the US on the podium. (Bas Czerwinski, AP) |
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James Startt
Morzine, France - Again his shoulders swayed. But this time his legs pumped. Only a day after losing 10 minutes and his yellow jersey, American Floyd Landis authored what will be remembered as one of cycling's greatest comebacks.
And after a truly extraordinary 123-kilometre breakaway, Landis is once again the favourite to win this year's Tour de France.
On Thursday morning at the start in St-Jean-de_Maurienne, there was considerably less excitement around the Phonak team bus than in previous days when Landis was in yellow. Few, however, could have guessed that it was only the calm before the storm.
At the foot of the first major climb of the day, the Saissies Pass, Landis' Phonak team set a torrid tempo, exploding the pack. The move then launched Landis on his historic breakaway.
Although many of the favourites tried to follow, none could. Off he flew. Over the following climbs, the 30-year old passed various members of an early morning break. T-Mobile's Patrick Sinkewitz managed to stay with Landis, but as the American attacked the final climb, the Joux-Plane, the German instantly melted.
Landis knew that the favourites were chasing hard. Although his nine-minute gap was reduced to six minutes and 15 seconds as he started his ascension, few could get any closer, as Landis powered over what is considered one of the Tour's most lethal mountain passes.
Simply unheard of
It was here where another American, Lance Armstrong, cracked in the 2000 Tour, but on this day, Landis simply exploded in this year's race.
Behind Spain's Carlos Sastre bolted away from race leader Oscar Pereiro and the other favourites. Starting the day only one minute 50 seconds out of the lead, he hoped to ride into yellow on Thursday, and build a margin that would protect his lead during the final time trial on Sunday.
Although he climbed the steep, 12-kilometre climb faster than anyone, he failed to make a significant dent into Landis' lead or snatch yellow from Pereiro.
Although Landis held just over a five minute lead at the summit, he gained over 30 seconds back as he bombed down the mountain towards the finish in Morzine. At the finish he had five minutes 42 seconds on Sastre and seven minutes, eight seconds on Pereiro.
Suddenly, and even if the superlative is over used, one wants to say miraculously, he had moved into third, only 30 seconds out of the lead. And with the mountains now behind, Landis will be the heavy favourite in the final time trial on Saturday.
The move is simply unheard of in modern cycling. Back in 1971, Eddy Merckx lost nearly eight minutes 42 seconds to Luis Ocana on the stage to Orcieres-Merlette. On the following day, Merckx battled back with a long break himself, but by the finish, only gained back two minutes.
Make no doubt about it. What happened to Landis in the last 24 hours, his tragic defeat and stunning turnaround, is not a product of modern cycling.
"Yesterday was a disaster. But it wasn't possible, after the way my team had worked for me over the past three weeks, to give up after just one bad day," Landis said later. "Today I wanted to show what I was capable of and I also wanted to show the team that I am a leader."
Of his truly epic ride, he said simply, "I tried not to think too much." Sometimes it's better that way - even when you are writing history. - Bicycling SA
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